1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flexible wiring system for connecting an extra electronic device with an electronic system of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic devices that are mounted in a vehicle are increasing year by year. Various electronic devices are mounted in various portions or areas of a vehicle, such as the engine compartment, the passenger compartment, the instrument panel and/or the roof liner area. Such electronic devices are connected with one or a plurality of control circuits (ECU) by specific wire harnesses and intermediate distributing units or junction boxes, as disclosed in JP-A-2000-253514.
Usually, when an additional electronic device such as an auto light sensor is connected with an extra terminal of an ECU, the auto light sensor is not directly connected with the extra terminal. The signal wire of the auto light sensor is accommodated in an instrument panel wire harness to connect the auto light sensor with an intermediate distributing unit, which is connected with the extra connector of the ECU. In case of a rain sensor, the signal wire is accommodated in a roof harness to connect the rain sensor with the intermediate distributing unit, which is, then, connected with the extra terminal of the ECU. Therefore, it is necessary to have additional wires for not only connecting the additional device with the intermediate distributing unit but also connecting the intermediate distributing unit with the ECU.
In order to provide additional connectors in the intermediate connecting unit, it is also necessary to change a distributing board of the intermediate distributing unit, which causes additional cost and works.
P2001-523610A and its counterpart U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,472,770, 6,469,404 and 6,356,826 disclose an intelligent current distribution system that connects one of a plurality of wires accommodated in a wire harness and an outside switch board via pins that penetrate the insulation cover of the wire harness so as to switch on or off the connection between the wire and an additional device. However, it is difficult to connect one wire accommodated in one wire harness to an additional device that is connected with another wire accommodated in a different wire harness.